BX 



I 



4415 




Library of Congress. 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 

Shelf --. i „S^.7^„Q. ^ 



THE 



JOHN P. CROZER 



MEMORIAL. 



PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN BAPTIST PUBLICATION SOCIETY. 
l866. 






S.\t>o^ 



Jas. B. Rodgers, Pr., 
52, & 54 North Sixth St. 
Philadelphia. 



MEMORIAL. 



JOHN P. CROZER was born at West Dale, 
Springfield township, Delaware county, Pennsyl- 
vania, on the 13th of January, 1793. He became a 
disciple of Christ when about fourteen years old. 
In April, 1809, he was baptized by Dr. Staughton 
into the fellowship of the First Baptist Church, 
Philadelphia. In the selection of a partner for life 
he was most happy in the choice of Miss Sallie L. 
Knowles, to whom he was married March 12th, 
1825; he died March nth, 1866, being 73 years 
old, leaving a widow and seven children. 

As a man he possessed great physical vigor, un- 
usual mental strength, a wealth of affection and ten- 
derness, remarkable simplicity of spirit, and a stern 
inflexibility of purpose. He was pure in his morals, 
and blameless in his life. 

In his business, his course was marked by integrity, 
industry, and perseverance. He possessed the rare 



The jfohn P. Crozer Memorial. 



ability of projecting stupendous enterprises, and of 
giving prompt attention to the minutest details. He 
began with little, and, under the blessing of God, 
accumulated a vast fortune. 

As a citizen, he was patriotic, loyal to his coun- 
try, and unswerving in his fidelity to the Union, the 
Constitution and the laws. 

As a philanthropist, he was large-hearted, open- 
handed, with a soul alive to the wants and woes of 
humanity. 

As a Christian, he was humble, devout, labori- 
ous, intelligent^ and generous. Every department of 
Christian effort shared in his sympathy. His reli- 
gion was a thing of common life, carried into his 
domestic relations, his social intercourse, and his 
business affairs. It sweetened all his life, and threw 
a mantle of dignity and grace around his person. 

In his family and in his intercourse with his em- 
ployees, there was much of patriarchal simplicity 
and dignity. He taught his children to believe on 
Christ and love his kingdom; and so effective was 
this teaching, that their first public act after his 
death, was to lay upon the altar of the Lord a most 
munificent donation, as a monument to his memory. 



The fohn P. Crozer Memorial. 



For many years Mr. Crozer was a true friend, 
and an earnest supporter of the American Baptist 
Publication Society. In the deliberations of the 
Board, of which he was the chairman, his counsels 
were highly esteemed by his associates, because of 
his godly sincerity, accurate judgment, and intelligent 
appreciation of the nature and magnitude of the So- 
ciety's work. His gifts to its treasury exceed, in 
the aggregate, the sum of twenty-four thousand 
dollars. He made three large donations, one of 
thirty-five hundred dollars, for the enlargement of 
the Society's building, and the others for the increase 
of its mission work, as is indicated in the following 
communications : 

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR SUN- 
DAY SCHOOL LIBRARIES. 

"Upland, Feb. 18, 1864. 
" To the Board of Managers of the American Baptist 

Publication Society : — 

"Dear Brethren: — Each succeeding year of 
my life I become more deeply impressed with the 
importance of religious effort on behalf of those in 



The "John P. Crozer Memorial. 



childhood and early youth ; and as a natural conse- 
quence I wish our Society to devote increased at- 
tention to the publication, and more wide circula- 
tion of evangelical Sabbath School literature. 

" I think many of the books we circulate, part of 
them too, of our own issues, might be dispensed 
with, or substituted by others of more evangelical 
character. But in the hands of our able Publica- 
tion Committee I doubt not a change for the better 
will be kept in progress. 

" I have been much exercised in my own mind as 
to what mode I might best adopt in order to aid the 
Society in effecting good by its labors in the Sab- 
bath School work. A decision has finally been made 
to encourage the formation of Sabbath Schools in 
destitute places, where no such schools have hereto- 
fore existed, and to aid, to some extent, those which 
have been newly formed. And with this object in 
view, I propose to donate in trust to the American 
Baptist Publication Society, in perpetuity, the sum of 

TEN THOUSAND DOLLARS, 

subject to the following conditions and reservations, 
viz: — 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. y 

"This sum often thousand dollars is to be invested 
and kept in United States, or in Pennsylvania State 
Government loans, or in the funded debt of the City 
of Philadelphia, or in bond and first mortgage on 
real estate in said city, or in well secured ground 
rents also to be in said city — as may be decided upon 
and approved by any existing Board of Managers, 
at any stated meeting of said Board. Such approval, 
however, must have the sanction of two-thirds of 
the members of the Board. The yeas of those 
voting in the affirmative must be so recorded on the 
minutes. Negative votes may also be recorded, if 
required by the Board, or if asked for by the mem- 
ber, or members casting negative votes. 

"Should the American Baptist Publication Society 
at any future time, by any regular and legitimate 
proceeding, or action, decide to change its name, or 
title, or to become united with, or merge into, any 
kindred society of the Baptist denomination engaged 
in a similar work, then this donation may be placed 
under the direction, and subject to the control of 
such new arrangement. But the purposes of the 
donor, as herein specified, are to be regarded, and 
neither the principal sum of ten thousand dollars, 



8 The John P. Crozer Memorial. 

nor the income or revenue accruing .herefrom is to 
be directed or suffered to flow into any new chan- 
nel, or for other objects than those herein specified. 

"The income or revenue which may accrue from 
the investment of this principal sum of ten thousand 
dollars is to form and become a fund for the supply 
of books and publications to new Sabbath Schools 
formed, or in progress of formation, in destitute 
places ; and to be equally applicable for schools of 
white and of colored children. 

U A11 applications for aid, out of this fund, are to 
be disposed of in the usual way by the Board of Ma- 
nagers, with this condition, however, that no school 
shall receive the benefit of this fund to a greater 
amount of value than that of the one hundred volume 
library issued by the Society, and which, until re- 
cently, was sold for ten dollars. 

"Long experience has confirmed me in the opinion 
that gifts and benefactions are most valued and ge-* 
nerally more effective when not obtained without 
some cost or effort. I would, therefore, strongly re- 
commend to this and to all future Boards to require, 
as a general rule, that applicants for aid from this 
fund shall, as a condition, be required to purchase, 



The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 



from the Depository, books equal in value to the 
amount donated. There may, and probably will be, 
isolated cases, where a departure from this rule may 
seem desirable ; therefore, with the foregoing expres- 
sion of what seems proper as a rule, the donor gives 
a discretionary power to the Board. 

u The terms and conditions of this donation are to 
be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the members 
present, and to be spread in full upon the minutes 
of the Board; and the officers to be empowered, as 
soon as the money is paid into the treasury, to fur- 
nish the donor with a certified copy of the whole 
proceedings connected with the transaction. 

"John P. Crozer." 

RECEPTION OF THE DONATION BY THE BOARD. 

After the reading of this communication, the 
following resolutions were unanimously adopted, 
viz.: 

"Whereas, John P. Crozer, Esq., of Delaware 
county, Pennsylvania, has generously tendered to 
the Board of the American Baptist Publication So- 
ciety the sum of ten thousand dollars, as a donation 



10 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 



for a special purpose, and on certain conditions as 
set forth in the above communication, 

"Resolved, That this Board do cordially and grate- 
fully accept from Mr. Crozer said donation for the 
purpose and on the conditions named by him. 

"Resolved, That this Fund shall be entered on our 
minutes, and be known hereafter in our records as 
the John P. Crozer Sunday School Library 
Fund. 

"Resolved, That in this large addition to our means 
of usefulness, bestowed thus unexpectedly by one 
whose bounty we have so often shared, we recog- 
nize anew the kindness of our Heavenly Father. 
And while we tender our heartfelt gratitude to one 
whose Christian benevolence is interwoven with the 
history of this Society, we also rejoice with him in 
that he is thus permitted to cast on another genera- 
tion, the mantle of his own noble charity." 

investment of the fund. 



A committee of three was appointed to confer 
with Mr. J. P. Crozer, and recommend to the 
Board the best investment for this Fund. 



The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 1 1 

After a short absence, the committee reported, re- 
commending the purchase of $10,000 in the new 
six per cent loan of the city of Philadelphia, as the 
investment of the "John P. Crozer Sunday School 
Library Fund." The recommendation was unani- 
mously adopted, and the securities named are now 
in the possession of the Treasurer. 

The influence of this donation upon the well- 
being of the present and coming generations, can- 
not be over-estimated. As we look down into the 
future, and follow the working of the libraries, fur- 
nished from year to year by the interest of this Fund, 
we see feeble schools revived and strengthened; 
new schools established, many of them growing in- 
to vigorous churches ; multitudes of children and 
youth converted to Christ, entering and enlarging 
every department of work in the Redeemer's King- 
dom. Numberless and ever-multiplying springs of 
blessing will be opened, whose waters will deepen 
and widen and flow on for ever, making glad the 
hearts of multitudes. Thanks be unto God for in- 
clining the heart of Mr. Crozer to establish this 
Sunday School Library Fund. 

It is to be most earnestly hoped that this noble 



12 



The fohn P. Crozer Memorial. 



example will be followed by many others. A 
dozen such donations would not supply the present 
demand for libraries on the part of needy and help- 
less schools. By these libraries their usefulness 
would be greatly increased. 

The foregoing generous donation was made by 
Mr. Crozer on the 18th of February, 1864. About 
a year afterwards, the Board were again agreeably 
surprised by a munificent donation of 

FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS FOR 
MINISTERS' LIBRARIES. 



" Upland, Feb. 28, 1865. 
To the Board of Managers of the American Baptist 

Publication Society : — 

"Dear Brethren: — I have felt much concern 
of late in reflecting upon the severe privation and 
sacrifices of many of the Pastors of our small 
Churches. Those especially of new organizations are 
subject to not a few of these, having exhausted all 
their pecuniary resources to secure an education, and 
have often to enter upon pastoral duties, with a 
very limited salary as means of support, without 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 13 

the ability to secure even a scanty library. With a 
view to render some small aid to such, in obtaining 
useful books, I propose to donate, in trust, to the 
American Baptist Publication Society in perpetuity, 
the sum of 

FIVE THOUSAND DOLLARS, 

subject to the following conditions and reservations, 
viz : This sum of Five Thousand Dollars, is to be 
invested and kept in United States, or in Pennsyl- 
vania State Government Loans, or in the funded 
debt of the City of Philadelphia, or in bond and 
first mortgage well secured on real estate in said 
city, as may be decided upon and approved by any 
existing Board of Managers, at any stated meeting 
of said Board : such approval, however, must have 
the sanction of two-thirds of the members of the 
Board. The yeas of those voting in the affirmative 
must be so recorded on the minutes. Negative 
votes may be also recorded if required by the Board, 
or if asked by the member or members casting nega- 
tive votes. 

" Should the American Baptist Publication Society 
at any future time, by any regular and legitimate 
proceeding or action, change its name or title, or 



14 The John P. Crozer Memorial. 

become united with or merged into any kindred 
society of the Baptist denomination engaged in a 
similar work, then this donation, may be placed under 
the direction and subject to the control of such new 
arrangement, but the purposes of the donor as here- 
in set forth, are to be strictly regarded, and neither the 
principal sum, nor the income or revenue derived 
therefrom, is to be directed or suffered to flow into 
any new channel, or for other objects than those 
herein specified. 

The income or revenue which shall accrue from 
the investment of this principal of Five Thousand 
Dollars is to form and become a Fund for the supply, 
by gift, of books published or sold by the American 
Baptist Publication Society, to Pastors of Bap- 
tist Churches in the United States, of such character 
and description as is already referred to in the fore- 
going, and as is hereinafter specified; no pastor 
however to have the benefit thereof to a greater 
amount than fifteen dollars; and included in the 
donation, the works of Rev. Andrew Fuller are re- 
commended, though not insisted upon, as having a 
place. 

In a former donation for the benefit of Sabbath 



The "John P. Crozer Memorial. 15 

Schools, reference was made to a conviction that 
gifts and benefactions were most valued and gene- 
rally most effective when not obtained without some 
cost and effort, and a recommendation was then 
made to the Board to require, as a general rule, that 
applicants for aid, should purchase from our Depo- 
sitory an amount of books, equal in value to the 
amount donated. More frequent variation to this 
rule may be proper and neccessary in the distribution 
for Ministers' Libraries than for Sabbath Schools, yet 
the same recommendation is now given, leaving 
however a free discretionary power with the Board. 

"The Benefits of this donation are intended for all 
pastors of Baptist Churches in the United States, 
recognized as such by the Board of the American Bap- 
tist Publication Society without regard to color. As 
many applicants may be living in remote places 
and unknown to any member of the Board, it must 
be required as an indispensable condition that satis- 
factory reference be given, and replies made in such 
form as the Board may deem proper. 

"The terms and conditions of this donation are to 
be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the members 
present, and to be entered in full upon the minutes of 



1 6 The "John P. Crozer Memorial. 

the Board, and the officers to be empowered, as soon 
as the money is paid into the treasury, to furnish the 
donor with a certified copy of the whole proceeding. 
" Yours, with a fraternal respect, 

"John P. Crozer." 

ACTION OF THE BOARD ON THE RECEPTION OF 
THIS DONATION. 

The following resolution was unanimously 
adopted: 

"Resolved, That we accept this liberal offer of our 
brother John P. Crozer, with its accompanying 
conditions, and that we rejoice with him in the 
prospect thus opened of new usefulness in a most 
interesting field, and that we place on record our 
heartfelt gratitude to God, by whose continued 
favor we have this new proof of unsolicited Chris- 
tian generosity." 

INVESTMENT OF THIS FUND. 

A committee, including the donor, was appointed 
to recommend in what manner the above fund 
should be invested. After deliberation, they recom- 
mended that the fund should be invested in the 7.30 



The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 17 

U. S. Government Notes. The recommendation 
was adopted unanimously and the Notes were pur- 
chased. 

Many will be constrained to praise the Lord, for 
enabling and inclining our brother to make this 
noble donation. The Society have before them no 
wider field of usefulness, than in increasing the power 
of the ministry. It is to be greatly desired that 
this may be the nucleus of a very much larger fund 
for ministers' libraries. This donation will do much, 
very much, but not a tithe of what is already 
needed, in this direction. We have in the denomi- 
nation 13,468 churches and 8,436 ministers. Of 
these a very large number have not been favored 
with facilities for an extended education. Many, 
very many, of them are almost entirely without 
books, and have no funds with which to buy them. 
Certain books would greatly add to their useful- 
ness, but they cannot secure them. This is true 
of our present ministry, and it will be true of the 
ministry of coming years. Many generations will 
have to pass away before our ministry can become 
generally educated. The demand is too great. 
Simply to give a pastor to each church now organ- 



i8 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 



ized, we need over 5,000 more ministers. Where 
are these men to come from ? Not from our col- 
leges. In all our institutions of learning there are 
at this time less than 350 men preparing for the 
ministry. It is plain, therefore, that the pastors for 
our present and future churches must, in the main, 
come from the business walks of life, with whatever 
mental training they may have, when called of God 
to enter upon the work. They will need books. 
Good books would be of invaluable service to them. 
Who will help to furnish them ? Will not others 
follow the example of Mr. Crozer, and, either by do- 
nation while they live, or by bequest in their wills, add 
to this fund, until it shall be able to send out several 
hundreds of small libraries each year? In the name 
of our Master, and his servants, we make the appeal, 
believing that many will respond. The good you 
will thus do, no mortal can measure. 



Another year passed away, and with it this man 
of God ceased from his labors, and entered upon 
his reward in heaven. 



The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 19 

The following action taken by the Board of the 
American Baptist Publication Society on the death 
of Mr. Crozer shows their appreciation of his cha- 
racter: — 

u It having pleased the great Disposer of events ot 
remove from among us the late Chairman of this 
Board, Mr. John P. Crozer, we desire to place on 
record our estimate of his character and services. 

"Our brother was a man possessed of fine natural 
abilities, ripened and mellowed under the life-long 
influence of religion. Converted at the early age of 
14 years, he maintained his Christian integrity to 
the close of his career. In him was combined the 
simplicity of childhood with the wisdom of age ; great 
tenderness of feeling with stern inflexibility of pur- 
pose, and the ability for enlarged enterprise with 
marked diffidence and humility. 

"We desire also to record our gratitude to God 
for the grace which illustrated in our brother the self- 
sacrificing generosity of the gospel. Of the various 
benevolent organizations of his own denomination, 
it is believed there is not one which has not received 
some token of his expansive beneficence, while our 
own Society has been a peculiar object of his attach- 



20 The "John P. Crozer Memorial. 

ment, and the recipient of large contributions. He 
also extended the sphere of his liberality beyond the 
limits of his own denomination. The expressions 
of regard for his memory by other branches of the 
Church, attest his freedom from sectarian prejudice, 
and his wide and profound sympathy with every 
effort for the extension of the Redeemer's kingdom. 
"Largely as we and others have profited by his 
princely benefactions, the richest gift he has left to 
us is his own good name." 



A MISSIONARY MEMORIAL TO 
JOHN P. CROZER. 

"Upland, Pa., April, 1866. 

To the Board of Managers of the American Baptist 
Publication Society : — 

"We, the family of the late John P. Crozer, de- 
sire to erect a Missionary Memorial. His hu- 
mility as a man, his devotion to the cause of Christ, 
his dislike of worldly show, his favorite mode of be- 
neficence, unite with our own personal preferences, 
in suggesting that this Memorial should not consist 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 21 

in a monumental pile of marble or granite ; the mag- 
nificence of which might please the taste of some 
occasional observer. The Memorial, it seems to 
us, should be one that, by its influence under the 
Divine blessing, will bring, through all coming time, 
joy to the desolate, sinners to Christ, and glory to 
God. We, therefore, deem it best to establish a 
Missionary Memorial. 

And, knowing that the dear departed one, was 
deeply interested in the religious condition of the 
Freedmen of this country, and that, previously to his 
death, he was earnestly considering the best mode 
of aiding them ; we, his widow and children, would 
take up and complete his unfinished work ; and, there- 
fore, offer to the Board of the American Baptist Pub- 
lication Society, in trust, the sum of Fifty Thou- 
sand Dollars, to be sacredly held by you as the 

JOHN P. CROZER MEMORIAL FUND FOR MISSIONS 
AMONG THE COLORED PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY. 

"This Missionary Memorial Fund, consisting 
of fifty thousand dollars, we tender to you in per- 
petuity, on the following conditions and limitations, 
viz.: — 



22 



The John P. Croxer MernoriaL 



"i. That it shall be invested and kept in either 
United States, or in Pennsylvania State Government 
loans, or in the funded debt of the city of Philadel- 
phia, or in bond and first mortgage on real estate in 
said city, or in first mortgage upon Pennsylvania 
Central Railroad, or in well-secured ground-rents in 
Philadelphia ; as may be decided upon and approved 
by any existing Board of Managers, at any stated 
meeting of said Board: such approval, however, 
must have the sanction of at least two-thirds of the 
entire Board; and the names of those voting in the 
affirmative must be recorded on the minutes of the 
Board. 

" 2. Should the American Baptist Publication So- 
ciety, at any future time, by any regular or legiti- 
mate proceeding or action, decide to change its 
name or title, or become united with, or merged 
into any kindred Society of the Baptist denomina- 
tion, engaged in a similar work, then this donation 
may be placed under the direction, and be subject to 
the control of such new organization; but the pur- 
poses of the donors, as herein specified, must be sa- 
credly regarded, and neither the principal sum of 
fifty thousand dollars, nor the income accruing there- 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 23 

from, shall be diverted, or suffered to flow into any 
other channel, or for any other object, than those 
herein specified. If, at any time, the principal sum 
of the said fifty thousand dollars, or any part there- 
of, or the income accruing from the said principal 
sum of fifty thousand dollars, shall be diverted from 
the objects and purposes herein specified, then the 
said principal sum of fifty thousand dollars shall re- 
vert back to the donors, their heirs or assigns. 

" 3. That the Society shall keep open, upon its 
ledger, an account entitled the 

JOHN P. CROZER MISSIONARY MEMORIAL FUND, 

to which shall be credited the income from the in- 
vested principal of fifty thousand dollars, and to 
which shall be charged all donations made on the 
account of this Fund. 

"4. That the income, or revenue which may ac- 
crue from the investment of this principal sum of 
fifty thousand dollars, shall be expended annually as 
follows, viz.: — ■ 

"(1.) One-fourth of the income from this Me- 
morial Fund, shall be used annually in supplying 



24 The John P. Crozer Memorial. 

Sunday School library books and publications to Bap- 
tist Sunday Schools of colored children. 

"All applications for aid from this Fund shall be 
carefully considered and acted upon by the Board of 
Managers, and grants shall be made only to such 
schools as are found to be really needy. No school 
shall receive the benefit of this fund to a greater 
amount of value than from ten to sixteen dollars. 

" Our own observation confirms us in the opi- 
nion, previously expressed by the departed loved one 
to whom this Memorial is erected, that gifts are 
more valued, and, generally, more effective, when 
not obtained without some cost and effort on the 
part of the recipients. We, therefore, strongly re- 
commend, that, as a general rule, Sunday Schools 
applying for aid from this fund, shall, as a condition, 
be required to purchase from the Board books equal 
in value to the amount donated. 

"(2.) One-fourth of the income from this Memo- 
rial Fund, shall be expended annually in supporting 
good Sunday School missionaries among the co- 
lored people, who shall seek to strengthen and im- 
prove the Sunday Schools, already in existence, and to 
aid in the formation of new Baptist Sunday Schools, 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 25 



wherever there is a hope of their being permanently 
sustained. 

"(3.) One-fourth of the income from the said 
Memorial Fund, shall be annually expended in fur- 
nishing colored pastors of churches, with suitable 
books for their libraries, to aid them in their pulpit 
preparations. 

"The benefits of this fund, shall be given only to 
those pastors who are recognized by the Board of the 
American Baptist Publication Society as ministers of 
good Christian character and of approved ministerial 
standing in the denomination. And we require that 
the Board will, at all times, take the requisite mea- 
sures to fully satisfy themselves with reference to 
the worthiness of each applicant, especially when 
living at a distance. No pastor may receive a great- 
er amount from this fund, than from ten to sixteen 
dollars' worth of books. 

"Without positively specifying the books that 
shall be given in each case, we would strongly recom- 
mend, that the grants shall consist of books like the 
"Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge," "The 
Blood of Jesus," "Fuller's Works," "Pengilly's 



26 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 



Scripture Guide to Baptism," " Baptist Church 
Directory," and the like. The books furnished, 
shall all be well bound and in good salable condition. 

"(4.) One-fourth of the income from the said 
Memorial Fund shall be expended annually in aiding 
young colored men, members of Baptist churches, 
and approved by the churches to which they belong, 
and the Institutions of learning at which they are 
studying, as proper candidates for the gospel minis- 
try, in obtaining such literary and theological in- 
struction as their talents and circumstances may re- 
quire. The aid may be given in the form of neces- 
sary text-books, and in the payment of tuition ; and 
shall be extended by the Board through the School, 
or Institution, that, in their judgment, is at the time, 
most effectually prosecuting the work of training a 
ministry for our colored churches. 

"5. It is the desire of the donors, that the income 
from this Missionary Memorial Fund of fifty thou- 
sand dollars, shall be divided and expended equally 
each year in prosecuting the four kinds of mission 
work above indicated. But, should the demand for 
aid in behalf of any one of the above specified kinds 
of mission work not be equal in any given year, after 






The John P. Crozer Memorial. 27 

a proper publicity has been given of the existence 
of such aid, to the one-fourth of the income, for the 
year, from the Memorial Fund of fifty thousand 
dollars, then, in such case, the unexpended balance 
may be expended for such of the other specified kinds 
of mission work, as in the judgment of the Board, 
needs it most. 

"6. This Memorial Fund is given expresslv for 
the benefit of the colored people. But, if at any time, 
the race should become extinct, or greatly reduced 
so that from these, or from any other reasons, the 
demand on the Board for aid for the colored people 
in either of the four kinds of mission work herein 
specified, is not equal to the income accruing from 
the said Memorial Fund of fifty thousand dollars, 
then, the unexpended balance, may be used by the 
Board in furnishing libraries to white Sunday Schools, 
and to pastors of white churches; under the same 
conditions and limitations as Mr. John P. Crozer 
specified in his donations to the Society for these 
purposes. 

"7. It is especially stipulated that the yearly in- 
come derived from one-eighth part of said Memorial 
Fund, shall be expended in the four different ways 



28 The John P. Crozer Memorial. 



above designated, among needy applicants from 
evangelical churches irrespective of denomination. 
And this, in the opinion of the donor of this eighth 
part of the Memorial Fund, will accord with the 
views of the beloved parent, whose language on his 
dying bed was, 'How small denominational differ- 
ences appear on the threshold of eternity !' It is 
further stipulated, that such publicity shall be given 
to the provisions of this article, as the Board of the 
American Baptist Publication Society shall deem 
just, and, that in the event that at the expiration of 
any year, any portion of the income derived from 
said one-eighth part, shall remain undistributed, the 
said Board of the American Baptist Publication 
Society, shall distribute this remaining portion as 
hereinbefore directed concerning the income derived 
from the other seven-eighth parts of said fund. 

"8. That the Board of the American Baptist 
Publication Society, shall publish annually a detailed 
report of the grants made, and of the work done by 
the expenditure of the income from this Memorial 
Fund of fifty thousand dollars. A copy of said re- 
port shall be sent annually to each of the donors 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 29 

while they live, and to some one representative of 
each after their death. 

u The donors shall have at all times the privilege 
of examining the records of the Board, respecting 
the investment of the principal sum of fifty thousand 
dollars constituting this Missionary Memorial Fund, 
and of the expenditure of its income. 

"9. The terms and conditions of this donation, 
must be confirmed by a two-thirds vote of the mem- 
bers of the Board, and shall be spread in full upon 
the Minutes of the Board, and be read in their hear- 
ing as often as once a year; we suggest that it r be 
at the first regular meeting in each year. 

Sallie L. Crozer, $6,250.00 

Samuel A. Crozer, 6,250.00 

Margaret Crozer Bucknell, 6,250.00 
Elizabeth Crozer Griffith, 6,250.00 

J. Lewis Crozer, 6,250.00 

George K. Crozer, 6,250.00 

Robert H. Crozer, , 6,250.00 

Emma Crozer, 6,250.00 

Making in all, $50,000.00." 



30 The John P. Crozer Memorial. 

RECEPTION OF THE MISSIONARY MEMORIAL. 

After the reading of the above communication, 
the following resolution was unanimously adopted : 

"Resolved, That this Board gratefully accept this 
generous donation of the family of the late Mr. 
John P. Crozer, upon the terms and stipulations 
named." 

The yeas and nays were then called, and all the 
members of the Board present, being nineteen in 
number, voted in the affirmative. 

Whereupon the Secretary announced that more 
than two-thirds of the resident members of the Board 
having voted in -favor of the resolution, the Me- 
morial Fund had been accepted with its stipulations 
by the Board. 

The following resolution was also adopted, viz : 
"Resolved, That a committee of three, consisting 
of Rev. Wm. F. Hansell, D. D., Rev. J. Wheaton 
Smith, D. D., and Rev. George Dana Boardman, 
be appointed to prepare an acknowledgment of the 
sense of gratitude entertained by this Board for the 
generous donation made by the heirs of the late 
John P. Crozer, to the American Baptist Publica- 
tion Society." 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 31 

This committee reported the following letter of 
thanks, which, on motion, was unanimously 
adopted. 

LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGMENT. 

"Philadelphia, May, 1866. 

"The Board of the American Baptist Publication 
Society unanimously and gratefully accept the dona- 
tion of Fifty Thousand Dollars, made by you to the 
said Society, and on the conditions specified by you, 
as a Fund to be consecrated to the memory of their 
late beloved president John P. Crozer. 

" In accepting this donation the Board cannot re- 
frain from expressing to you their estimate of the 
excellence of his character and of the eminent at- 
tachment to the cause of the Redeemer which uni- 
formly distinguished him. 

"They further desire to record their high apprecia- 
tion, not only of the liberality of this donation, but 
also of the wisdom and Christian devotion which 
have prompted you to employ this method, to per- 
petuate the memory of a man, whose exalted virtues 
entitled him while living, to the esteem of his co- 



32 The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 

temporaries, and now that God has taken him, will 
secure for his name and character the grateful recol- 
lection of coming generations. 

"The memorial which you have chosen is one 
which will survive all time and change, and exist 
when the stateliest monuments of marble and brass 
shall have crumbled to dust. 

Wm. F. Hansell, ^ 
J. Wheaton Smith, V Committee. 
Geo. D. Boardman, J 
To 

Mrs. Sallie L. Crozer and family." 

INVESTMENT OF THE MEMORIAL FUND. 

The fifty thousand dollars, constituting the John 
P. Crozer Memorial Fund were, by a unanimous 
vote of the Board, invested as follows: — 
$15,000 in U. S. 7*30 , s. 
15,000 " Penn. R. R. 1st Mortg. Bonds. 
10,000 " City 6s. New 
10,000 " State 6s. War Loan. 

action of the society. 
When the announcement of this large donation, 
was made to the Society, at its annual meeting May 
21st, 1866, Bartholomew T. Welch, D.D., led the 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 33 

congregation in a prayer of thanksgiving, that will 
never be forgotten by those who united in it. 

The Society by an earnest vote placed upon its re- 
cord the following commendatory minute: 

"The Committee to which was referred the pro- 
position to establish The John P. Crozer Mission- 
ary Memorial Fund, ask permission to report: 

"John P. Crozer is happy in a double life. Death 
has given him a place elsewhere, and yet has not 
been able altogether to take him away from his old 
sphere. Gone forward into the world of light be- 
yond, not his name only, but his spirit still lives 
here, and in those born of his blood, showing that 
money is not the only heritable possession. For it 
is no dishonor to his family — they will count it their 
joy, to trace their noble beneficence back to a spring 
in him, whose name they are proud to bear. They 
allow the spirit which ruled his earthly life also to 
build his monument, now that he is dead. They 
let him still live, they help him to live grandly, and 
with a longer, unending life of good in the work 
which they empower this society to do. They trust 
his memory, not to local and perishable stone, but to 
a work which shall find its place wherever there is a 



34 The Job?i P. Crozer Memorial. 

black man in America, in a work which has some- 
thing of the immortality of the gospel itself. They 
might 'give bond in stone' that his name should 
endure. They wisely choose to commit it to the 
gratitude of the poor, and to link it with the pro- 
gress of the knowledge of the kingdom of God . 
It is no uncertain trust. He shall live, known or 
unknown, in the words of teachers, in the pages of 
books, in the tuition of ministers, so long as this 
country shall have a ministry for his Redeemer. 
Though the name were forgotten, he will live in a 
work, which is for the eternal word of God, and in 
the immortal minds of men, and through the genera- 
tions of a future whose end is not to be seen. 

cc But this Society, ready and solicitous to do honor 
to Mr. Crozer, accepts this trust, not for his sake 
more than for the good of the race, which, from his 
early days, touched the sympathies of his generous 
soul. As his sun sinks into another horizon, theirs 
rises in the east. They come up stretching their 
hands of hope northward, and their life comes out 
of his grave. So has Providence timed this magnifi- 
cent gift with a magnificent opportunity. Both of 
them we hail with grateful praise to God. We 



The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 35 

hear in them the call of our Lord to this Society. 
It is the first step and prophecy of a destiny laid 
upon us to meet and bless this race coming up out 
of their darkness and sorrow after the light of Christ. 
It is our ordination to one of the divinest ministries 
of our time. It leads where, unless faith fail, and 
love to Christ and his poor shall die, there will be 
others to follow. We are encouraged, then, to take 
up this trust in the spirit in which it is imposed. 
Their honor for the head of their family, is ours 
also. Their and his purpose of blessing to the en- 
franchised bondmen, to the children of Africa, is 
ours. Trustees of a benefit so ample, so timely, so 
free, we should count it our honor to fulfil, to en- 
large it. The Society will not hesitate to express 
its feeling in reference to this proceeding. The 
following resolve is offered : 

"Resolved^ That this Society, accepting and approv- 
ing, in its purpose and conditions, the trust com- 
mitted to the Board by the family of the late Mr. 
John P. Crozer, with its great and welcome obliga- 
tions, also places upon its record its appreciation of 
this unusual and magnificent benefaction, and hereby 
offer to Mrs. Crozer and her children the assurance 



36 The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 

of cordial sympathy, both in the loss they have sus- 
tained, and in the honor they propose to the lamented 
head of their family. For the Committee. 

S. L. Caldwell." 

We have now presented the several papers con- 
nected with the donations of Mr. Crozer, and with 
the Memorial Fund of his family. They tell their 
own story. These are generous and commendable 
benefactions, and will result in very great good. By 
the two munificent gifts of Mr. Crozer, the Society 
will be enabled to supply, each year, forty new white 
Sunday Schools, with a fifteen dollar library ; and 
thirty ministers, with ten dollars' worth of good books 
for their libraries. The Memorial Fund will sus- 
tain one or two Sunday School Colporteurs, among 
the colored people — will supply fifty poor colored 
Sunday Schools with a library — seventy-five deser- 
ving colored pastors with ten dollars' worth of books, 
and furnish yearly $750.00 towards the education of 
young colored ministers. And this varied work 
these donations will repeat, year after year, forever. 
Who can comprehend the ultimate and aggregate 
influence of these benefactions? 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 37 

These Funds, however, as before intimated, will 
not supply all the demands of even the present 
time. The Board could, in the exercise of a wise 
discretion, distribute, annually, libraries to over two 
hundred, instead of "forty," new schools; and the 
demand will enlarge continually. Besides new 
schools, there are scores and hundreds of old ones, 
that are languishing for the want of a few books, 
which they are unable to purchase. And, instead 
of "thirty," there are, and will be each year, many 
hundreds of ministers, who would be greatly bene- 
fited in their work of preaching Christ, by a small 
addition of suitable works to their scanty libraries. 

But the supply, inadequate as it now is, will steadi- 
ly increase. There are other men, and women, too, 
who will wish to do something like that which has 
been done by Mr. Crozer and his family. The 
Lord Jesus has many faithful servants, who regard 
their wealth as a means with which to do good. And 
as they inquire for the way in which to expend it, so 
as to accomplish most for the cause of u Him, who 
loved them and gave himself for them," many will 
adopt the work of the Publication Society. Some 
will give liberal donations annually while they live ; 



38 The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 

others will leave large bequests in their wills. Some 
will enlarge the capital of the Society, that it may 
become a Publishing House worthy of Baptists, and 
equal to the stupendous work they must do in this 
direction. Others will wish to enlarge the Minis- 
ters' Library Fund, until it shall be able to add a few 
good books to the library of every needy minister in 
the denomination. One will make provision where- 
by every newly organized Baptist Sunday School in 
their own State, or in some new State or Territory 
shall be supplied with a hundred volume library. 
Another will establish a Fund for the free circu- 
lation of tracts and pamphlets, so that Home Mis- 
sionaries, Missionaries of State Conventions, pastors, 
and others may be freely supplied with all that they 
can judiciously circulate. This will greatly increase 
their usefulness. Some will prefer to furnish the 
Society with the means with which to make a set 
of electrotype plates of a New Testament, or of a 
pocket, Sunday School, or Family Bible; and by 
thus reducing the price, secure a wider circulation. 
Others will make provision for furnishing the Bible 
to all families who are known to be without it, and 
who are desirous of obtaining it ; also to Seamen, Sol- 



The John P. Crozer Memorial. 39 

diers, and others. Some will wish to stereotype a 
given tract or book, in the English, German, French, 
Italian, or some other language ; and thereby per- 
petuate it forever, and secure an extensive circula- 
tion. Others will wish to support permanently a 
Sunday School Missionary, who shall devote his en- 
tire time and energy to the organization of Sunday 
Schools. And others, still, will desire to sustain, 
year by year, a Colporteur, who will labor among 
the destitute, carrying the gospel of our God to those 
who either cannot, or will not come to the Sanctuary 
to hear it preached. In these, and in various other 
ways, provision will gradually be made for meeting 
the great, and ever increasing, demand upon the So- 
ciety. The work of the Society, as the Publishing, 
Sunday School, Colporteur, and Bible Agency of 
Baptists, is so important, vast, and diversified, that 
persons of different tastes and predilections will find 
in it something, by the doing of which they can serve 
their Lord and bless the world. The donations of 
Mr. Crozer and family, we think, will not long stand 
alone. 



APPENDIX. 



OTHER PERMANENT FUNDS. 

The great economy and the usefulness of the 
Missionary Colportage, conducted by the Society, 
have commended it to very many persons. The 
donations to this work are increasing year by year. 
Some legacies have been given. 

Two gentlemen, who resided near each other in 
the State of New York, being each desirous of doing 
something towards the permanent support of a col- 
porteur of certain special characteristics, made the 
following provisions in their wills: 

I. 

THERON FISK PERMANENT COLPORTEUR FUND. 

"I give and bequeath to the American Baptist 
Publication Society, located in the city of Philadelphia, 
the sum of two thousand and five hundred dollars, 
to be permanently invested by them to the use of 
the said Society, as follows : It is my will that the 
annual interest be annually appropriated in the em- 



The 'John P. Crozer Memorial. 41 

ployment of an ordained minister of the Baptist de- 
nomination, who is consecrated to the work of the 
Lord, and who is in his social relations, and who 
agrees to remain through life, free from all connec- 
tion or affinity to any and every secret society of 
whatever name or nature \ whose labors are devoted 
to the spread of the gospel by the Colporteur system 
of distributing religious and evangelical publications, 
and at the same time by the simple and primitive 
mode of preaching the gospel extemporaneously 
from house to house, and in supplying destitute 
places and feeble churches by preaching the gos- 
pel on the Sabbath. As it is my desire to give as 
extensive benefit as possible, by this small pittance, 
to the scattered sheep of Christ, I have therefore 
preferred that an ordained minister should be select- 
ed, that he may be fully qualified to every good 
word and work as the case may demand in the ad- 
ministration of the ordinances of God's house." 

II. 

JONATHAN DAVIS PERMANENT COLPORTEUR FUND. 

" I, Jonathan Davis, give and bequeath unto the 
American Baptist Publication Society, Philadelphia, 



42 The yohn P. Cromer Memorial. 

Pa., the sum of twenty-three hundred dollars, ($2300) 
as a permanent fund, to be invested by said Society 
so as to draw seven per cent, interest annually. 
One hundred and fifty dollars of said interest to be 
applied for the support of a Colporteur, to be em- 
ployed by and under the supervision of said Society. 
The balance, or remainder of the interest — eleven 
dollars, to be applied in furnishing a library yearly to 
some poor destitute Sabbath School. 

"The said bequest is made on the following con- 
ditions, viz: 

" 1st. That said Colporteur, supported by said 
bequest, shall submit a report of his labors to the 
donor, or his heirs at least once a year. 

" 2d. That said Colporteur shall be a man of ap- 
proved piety, a faithful defender of the principles and 
practices of the Baptist denomination — totally ab- 
staining from the use of intoxicating drinks and 
tobacco — and who is not a member of, and pledging 
himself not hereafter to unite with any Secret Society, 
so long as he shall continue to labor under the pa- 
tronage of this bequest." 



The "John P. Crozer Memorial. 43 

INVESTMENT OF THESE FUNDS. 

These two legacies, in accordance with the minds 
of the givers, were invested in the Business of the 
Society; the Board obligating themselves to pay per- 
manently six per cent, interest on the first, and seven 
per cent, interest on the second, toward the support 
of Colporteurs, as designated by the Wills of Messrs. 
Fisk and Davis. By this mode of investment, both 
the principal and interest will be perpetually doing 
good. The principal, being in the business capital, 
will continue to provide religious literature, and the 
interest will, in each case, help sustain a Missionary 
Colporteur for ever. 

These men of God, before going to their rest in 
heaven, have each thus secured the appointment of 
a Missionary to labor among the perishing, year after 
year, down through coming generations. There is 
good reason to hope that brethren Fisk and Davis 
will be permitted to greet in the heavenly world 
scores, and even hundreds of precious souls, who 
will be saved through the instrumentality of their 
bequests, though somewhat peculiar. They are a 
portion of the "blessed dead," whom, while they rest 
from their labors, their works follow. 



44 The yohn P. Crozer Memorial. 

At the time of these bequests, the salary of ordi- 
nary Colporteurs was only $150 per annum. Col- 
porteur salaries now range from three to five hun- 
dred dollars, according to the man appointed. There 
are few more pleasing ways of doing good, than to 
preach Jesus to the poor and neglected, every day 
while we live, and for generations after we shall be 
in heaven. This we may do by proxy — by arranging 
for the permanent support of a good Missionary Col- 
porteur. 



LoFC. 



FEB 21 1901 



its 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



021 898 764 3 



